Detecting Honeybee eDNA with Artificial Flowers

Authors

Gabrielle Kiel, Parkland College
Luke Settles, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Adam Dolezal, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is an emerging method for surveying pollinators where:

● Environmental samples such as flower heads are collected

● DNA is extracted

● qPCR detects the presence of a species

Many survey methods are lethal to pollinators, where eDNA is not. However, a flower’s chemical makeup and size, how long a pollinator spends on it, and sun UV radiation can interfere with collection. Artificial flowers designed by the USGS can standardize eDNA and address some of these concerns. Research Focus: To determine the optimal deployment length of artificial flowers and if a sucrose reward is necessary for detecting honey bees (Apis mellifera). Doing so will evaluate their practicality and refine their methodology to improve cost and time efficiency.

Rights

Copyright is owned by the creators of this work.

Recommended Citation

Kiel, Gabrielle; Settles, Luke; and Dolezal, Adam, "Detecting Honeybee eDNA with Artificial Flowers" (2025). MICRO-CCS student projects. 14.
https://spark.parkland.edu/micro_ccs_student/14